Social Media: a spark for organized movements

Social media has been the most useful tool for organized movements to take action by organizing protests and it has been the best way to protest online, but does it really change the law?

Protests are a way to change the law

Over centuries many countries have faced several changes in their own government and law system as a result of the development of different protests made by their own population.

An organized movement can change a country’s law and political system, the major example can be a coup d’etat, it is a big movement that can change an entire country, but can this big change begin from something so small as an internet post?

Nowadays we are experiencing a digital age where most part of our life now requires the use of technology, and every time we develop our personal and professional life through the use of digital tools like social media. And the birth and development of social movements are no exception to the dependence on technology.

Social media has been the most useful tool for the creation of organized movements because it is the easiest and fastest way, plus it can spread the movement worldwide. So a big change in the law system can have its origin in digital media.

Social media: a free way to protest

Over the last few years, different applications of social media have been created where today many users can protest and try to change the law by criticizing the existing system and by providing innovative ideas to modify the law to the actual situation.

Protests were effective ways for the population to incite or even make changes in the law. Many people would think that protests are still an effective way to change the law, but they are actually wrong. This year we have experienced many protests all around the globe that defy the law in order to get a change in the law to stop the abusive use of power that the authority possesses and to make governments take action for their inactivity. But even though they have had a huge impact on society, they have not really changed the law.

This year the world has seen many examples of the effectiveness of social media being the main element for organized movements to invite the population to protest. The “Black Lives Matter^[1]” has been a worldwide movement that has changed everyone’s perspective about the abuse of law enforcement and the discrimination that still prevails in our world, but this movement has not done a real change in the U.S. Law System where the movement was born.

Mexico had an important protest called “Un día sin nosotras” that consisted that no woman would appear on the streets, that they would not go to work, that girls should not go to the schools or colleges, and no woman should buy anything on March the ninth in order to show the populations discontent and to exhort the government to take action to stop the massive cases of femicide^[2] that were reported in the first couple of months of 2020. Although this movement was a huge success with almost 658 million women taking part in it, no change in any Mexican law was made because of this movement.

Social media is a great tool for organized movements to invite people to participate in different protests, share pictures and ideas, and reach many different parts of the world, but social media or these movements have not done a real change in law, because no modifications or creations of law have been done because of these movements.

The law in some countries can only be changed by the legislative authorities because they have the power to create or reform the law, in many countries a person can submit a law initiative that will be taken into consideration by these authorities.

Social media is the best tool for sharing ideas that will inspire organized movements to take action, but its influence on law is not that powerful yet. Law can only be modified by the formal process that each country has, protests and organized movements can inspire the lawmakers to modify it or to create a new one, but it is a difficult path.

The world is changing as many law systems because we are living in an uncertain period in the history of the humankind, so it is possible that in the future not far away we could join an organized movement and protest in a digital way which could be more influential in the process of modifying the law.

Bibliography:

• Un día sin mujeres: ¿qué es y cómo surgió el paro del 9M? Milenio. México. 9/03/2020 5:59. https://www.milenio.com/politica/paro-9-de-marzo-que-es-y-de-donde-surge
• Campbell, Adina. What is Black Lives Matter and what are the aims? BBC News. Explainers. 13 of June 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53337780

1. Campbell, Adina. What is Black Lives Matter and what are the aims? BBC News. Explainers. 13 of June 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53337780 ↑
2. Un día sin mujeres: ¿qué es y cómo surgió el paro del 9M? Milenio. México. 9/03/2020 5:59. https://www.milenio.com/politica/paro-9-de-marzo-que-es-y-de-donde-surge  ↑